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28th Amendment–4/16/2012

A corrupt Congress will never reform itself. With the spirit of our country’s creation the people of the United States shall move to take back representative democracy:

The True and Profound Democracy Amendment aka

The Omnibus Anti-Corruption, Campaign Finance and Term Limit Amendment

The Essential Amendment Program:

One Person/ One Vote

Return Representative Democracy to the People

Restore the Power of the Personal Vote

Public Campaign Finance—Stop Corporations, Big Money and the Rich from Running and Ruining the United States!

You Can’t Stop Wall Street Until You Get the Vandals off the Handles of Our Government!

The Congress is Not a Place to Get Elected in Order to Get Rich or Richer:

No Corporate Financing of Elections.

No Lobbying with Money, or Promises of Rewards.

No Persons or Group of Persons may contribute more than $100 to any politician or any single campaign–$100 is the limit.

Finance electoral campaigns with a $1 tax.

Use the FCC to regulate free media access for election campaigns.

Term Limits Limit Oligarchy!

12 Years max for the Congress, Senate and Supreme Court!

Vote only for politicians who completely support this program in their platforms. A ‘No’ Vote for any Politician who does not Support the 28th Amendment.

To Serve in Congress is an Honor, Not a Career. Serve our Citizens, Not the Rich and Corporations!

Rationale

Campaign Finance Reform and Prohibition Against Financial Lobbying—An Outline of the Issues as a Basis for Discussion by the Citizenry.

Whereas the US Supreme Court in the recent ruling in the Citizens United case has altered the intent of the Constitution to suggest that entities other than citizens, such as corporations, or unions may have as applicable the terms of the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Amendments to the Constitution, therefore the citizens of the United States for the sake of their liberty and to reverse the pollution of the political process shall mandate that elected officials represent the citizens of this country only, and are entirely unavailable to be influenced by funds, gifts or gimmicks.

Entities such as corporations, PACs, and unions have the right to make their interests known and to influence by reasoned persuasion, not by buying the votes of elected or to be elected officials. In addition access by such entities to the political process through the media by influencing directly and indirectly elections of candidates, referendums, political programs and agendas—what shall be called ‘electioneering’– has an undue influence on our political life given the dollar power of such entities to procure media time. So long as there is no policy governing ‘electioneering’ relating to what constitutes undue influence, money will continue to unduly sway the political process. While the First Amendment right—Freedom of Speech—is crucial to delineate and maintain, the right of the individual to have both an equality of access to express and to be free of influences by entities directed at deluding the political process requires great discussion and careful regulation. So, too, is the need to define candidates’ media access in an equitable manner.

Therefore, the influence of self-interested funding and any form of financial lobbying of members of the Congress shall cease once and for all. Any violation of this prohibition shall be punishable by immediate expulsion from Congress following a fair hearing procedure of a special oversight committee composed of an independent panel under a special prosecutor. Criminal penalties may also apply. Violation of the restriction on outside funding by a candidate for office shall result in expulsion from the campaign, and/or nullification of a victory by a violator.

Therefore, political campaigns will henceforth be funded by assessment of a small and justifiable fee to each citizen, in a range based on a standard of the general wealth–for example between 50 to 100 dollars per citizen per year, to be distributed to candidates’ campaigns for Federal election. A discussion of how to allocate funds, and consideration of the right of citizens to direct their funds is a necessity of this process.

No candidate shall be allowed to expend more than $10,000 of their own or relatives’ and friends’ funds for any election–primary or final elections.

Therefore, the 28th Amendment shall restore democracy to the citizenry of the United States by eliminating the financial influence of entities and individuals on both the election and the political processes of the Federal government.

Only citizens are fully protected by the Constitution of the United States.

Congressional Term Limits and Congressional Reform

Representatives shall be limited to six (6) 2 year terms in Office consecutively or separately. Senators shall be limited to two (2) 6 year terms in Office. Members of both Houses shall serve without a pension and shall participate in Social Security. Congresspersons shall be paid a salary while in office and no pay when out of office. All funds in the Congressional Retirement Fund shall be placed in the Social Security System immediately on passage of the 28th Amendment. Congress shall no longer vote themselves pay raises but upon the adoption of a new pay scale to replace all pre-exiting pay contracts and rates will have salaries adjusted to the lower of either the CPI or 3%. Congresspersons shall participate in the US health care system just as any other US citizen and shall have their special health care insurance mechanism terminated.

Supreme Court Term Limits

Supreme Court Justices shall serve up to 12 years and no longer. This limit shall reduce the political vulnerability of the Court, enhance its contemporaneousness, and prevent the Court from suffocating change and serving the interests of elites.

Proposal

The 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution

As per Article Two of the United States Constitution, which defines the pay of the President: Pay. The President receives “Compensation” for being the President, and this compensation may not be increased or decreased during the president’s term in office. The President may not receive other compensation from either the United States or any of the individual states.

Therefore, All Representatives and Senators elected by the citizenry of the United States also shall be so bound and this shall apply to their staffs and offices as well. Pay: Representatives and Senators receive “Compensation” for being Representatives and Senators, and this compensation may not be increased or decreased save as per the 27th Amendment: No law, varying the compensation for the services of Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened. Representatives and Senators may not receive other compensation from either the United States or any of the individual states. No other compensation may be received from any other sources whatsoever other than citizens of the United States and those amounts must be declared by each recipient and the limit on all such contributions made by individual citizens shall be set by law by Congress.

No other entity may seek to influence by electioneering, lobbying, or contribution to campaigns, parties and candidates for election to the Presidency and both houses of Congress. Only citizens of the United States have the right to vote and the citizens of the United States have the right to have their President, Representatives and Senators solely represent them and no other entity. The Bill of Rights applies solely to citizens of the United States as per the Constitution and not to any other entity.

Congress shall have the right to assess and collect funds from the citizenry on an equal person by person basis for the sake of making funds available directly to candidates for election and this revenue shall be the sole source available for electioneering.

The terms of Representatives shall be limited to six, or a total of twelve years. The number of terms for Senators shall be limited to two, or twelve years.

Federal political campaigns will henceforth be funded by assessment of a small and justifiable fee to each citizen, in a range based on a standard of the general wealth–for example, between 50 to 100 dollars per citizen per year, to be distributed to candidates’ campaigns for Federal election on the basis of the results of primary campaigns, this range to be set by Congress.

No candidate shall be allowed to expend more than a total of $10,000 of their own, or relatives’ and friends’ funds for any election–primary or general elections.

Any violation of this prohibition shall be punishable by immediate expulsion from Congress following a fair hearing procedure of a special oversight committee composed of an independent panel under a special prosecutor. Criminal penalties may also apply. Violation of the restriction on outside funding by a candidate for office shall result in expulsion from the campaign, and/or nullification of a victory by a violator.

Members of both Houses shall serve without a pension and shall participate in Social Security. Congresspersons shall be paid a salary while in office and no pay when out of office. All funds in the Congressional Retirement Fund shall be placed in the Social Security System immediately on passage of the 28th Amendment. Congress shall no longer vote themselves pay raises but upon the adoption of a new pay scale to replace all pre-exiting pay contracts, in the future salaries shall be adjusted to the lower of either the CPI or 3%. Congresspersons shall participate in the US health care system as do other US citizens and shall have their special health care insurance mechanism terminated.

The Term of Service for all Supreme Court Justices shall be limited to at most 12 years time.